Happy Birthday! Again
by Blunz
Summary: This story begins on the night of May 5, 2004, when the pregnant Erica goes into labor. The story will span until May 6, 2022, when Chandler and Monica's adoptive children—Jack and Erica Bing—turn eighteen. Each chapter shows a birthday of Jack and Erica as they grow older, starting with the day they're born. If this goes well, I might do the same thing for Emma.
1. Birth

**May 5, 2004**

**10:37 P.M.**

"Erica, are you okay?" Monica asked when she noticed the pregnant blonde looking to be in pain with her hand on her stomach. Monica had to be sure everything was alright with her baby. And Erica, too, of course.

Joey, Phoebe, and Chandler were also in the room, gathered around the kitchen table with traces of concern in all six eyes.

"Yeah. You know, maybe I ate too much," she replied. "I keep getting these stomachaches. They come and go like every few minutes."

Monica's eyes widened. "Oh my God!"

Chandler seemed, too, to be oblivious to the situation at hand. "Relax. We'll just get her some antacids."

"She doesn't have a stomachache. She's in _labor_!" Monica exclaimed.

"Oh my God!" Chandler echoed, sounding very like Monica in his shocked state.

"You've got to get to the hospital," Phoebe said.

"All right. Chandler, get the coats. Erica let's go. Phoebe and Joey, keep packing!" Monica instructed. And then it hit her, the sudden realization that they would finally—after all this time, after all this waiting—have a baby. "Oh my God, we're gonna have a baby. All right. We're gonna have a baby! Oh my God, we're gonna _have a baby_!" she shouted. Suddenly feeling lightheaded, she pulled up a chair. "Oh God, oh God. I got to sit down, I got to sit down." She began hyperventilating.

"Honey, it's gonna be okay," Chandler said, rubbing her back soothingly.

"You can do this," Erica comforted, sounding oddly like _Monica_ was the one in labor. "Just breathe."

"Okay, okay," Monica said, taking several deep breaths. "Okay, I feel a little better."

Erica let out a sudden cry of pain. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Monica said, standing up. "Oh, honey, let's go. Okay, bye everyone!" She waved goodbye to Joey and Phoebe who threw the three of them supportive messages and cheers in return.

Monica called for a cab, and soon they were on their way to the hospital. On their way to parenthood.

* * *

**May 6, 2004**

**4:58 A.M.**

"Breathe," Monica instructed as Erica panted out heavy breaths. "Breathe, breathe, breathe." Seeing Erica relax, _Monica_ relaxed. "Good." It was like she could feel the pregnant woman's pain, the way she acted.

Feeling left out from all the painful fun, Chandler asked, "Next time, can _I_ say 'breathe'?"

"No. Last time, you said it like Dracula, and it scared her!" Then, turning her attention back to Erica, "Can I get you anything? You want some more ice chips?"

"No, I'm okay," Erica replied.

"Alright," Monica said. "I'll be right back."

Chandler panicked a little. "Where are you going?"

"To use the bathroom." She turned to leave, but Chandler stopped her.

He lowered his voice so Erica wouldn't overhear. "You can't leave me alone with her."

"What?" Monica asked, clearly confused. Did Chandler not _like_ Erica or something?

"This is _exactly_ the kind of social situation that I am _not_ comfortable with!" His eyes were ablaze with worry and even slight anger.

"What kind of social situation _are_ you comfortable with?" Monica questioned.

"It's just that we've never spent any time, _you know_, alone together."

"You'll be fine," Monica said, patting his arm. He gave her a disbelieving look. "Nah, you _won't_," she admitted, "but I'll be back in two minutes."

"Okay," Chandler said, looking defeated.

Monica chuckled slightly at her husband's awkwardness and left the room. Chandler closed the door behind her and turned to face Erica. Attempting conversation, he tried, "Any plans for the summer?"

She thought for a second, looking a bit confused by the question. "I don't know. Maybe church-camp?"

"May not wanna mention _this_," Chandler mused, receiving an offended look from Erica. "So, you ever wonder which is worse: going through labor or getting kicked in the nuts?" Now Erica was glaring at him with a look of pure disgust and hatred. Chandler could perfectly understand why.

"What?" she practically spat.

"Well, it's just _interesting_. You know, because no one will ever know, because no one can experience _both_." Erica rolled her eyes and looked at him like he was crazy. "One of life's _great_ unanswerable questions. I mean, who _knows_? Maybe there's something even more painful than those things." He paused and felt the tension in the room thickening. He knew Monica shouldn't have left him here. "Like this," he added.

* * *

**May 6, 2004**

**11:44 A.M.**

"It's just a little bit more, honey," Monica said to a screaming Erica as a grimace formed across the pregnant woman's face. Any minute now, she would be giving birth, and Monica and Chandler would finally have their baby. The anticipation was killing Monica at the moment. She couldn't wait to be a mother.

"Help me! This hurts!" Erica screamed.

"Is it really that bad?" Chandler asked. Monica gave him a slight glare. Did he really just ask such a moronic question?

"Uh-huh!" Erica said angrily. "I think it's time to kick you in the nuts and see which is worse!" Monica glanced at Chandler, then back at Erica. It soon became clear that Chandler had said something stupid while she had left the room earlier. She had been gone for two minutes—just _two_ _minutes_—and Chandler had still managed to do something idiotic.

The doctor at Erica's feet announced, "The baby's head is crowning."

Monica walked over to the doctor's side to watch the birth. "Oh! Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "That is the most _beautiful_ top of a head I have ever seen. Chandler, you have to see this!"

"I'm okay," Chandler said from the other side of the room, by Erica's head.

"Chandler, you don't wanna miss this," Monica begged. "This is the birth of your child. It's the miracle of life!"

"_Alright_," Chandler gave in, taking a quick glance and immediately drawing back. "Wow. That is one _disgusting_ miracle."

"Start pushing," the doctor instructed. Erica let out a wail of pain. "Here we go. Here come the shoulders."

The cry of a baby sounded throughout the room, tugging at Monica's heartstrings. The doctor held up the baby, and Monica got the first peek at the gender. "It's a— It's a boy!"

"Wow!" Chandler exclaimed, eyes wide as he looked at his son.

"Is he okay?" Erica asked.

"He's just fine," the doctor reassured.

"Oh, you did it!" Monica shouted happily to Erica. She was a mom. She was finally a mom. She couldn't believe this. This was a happiness beyond anything she had ever experienced before in her life.

Chandler seemed to be overcome with emotion, a side of Chandler which Monica almost never had the opportunity to see. "It's a baby! A _beautiful_ little baby! And some other stuff I'm gonna pretend I don't see." Monica chuckled.

"Would you like to cut the umbilical cord?" the doctor asked as a nurse handed Monica a pair of scissors. She passed them over to Chandler, and they cut together.

"Well, that's _spongy_," Chandler commented.

Monica held the newborn baby boy in her arms and stared down at him. "Oh, hey handsome. I'm gonna love you so much that no woman is ever gonna be good enough for you." Chandler laughed and wrapped his arm around her. She looked up at him, on the verge of tears. "Oh, we are so lucky!"

"I know," Chandler said softly. He looked down at his son and seemed to notice something. "He has your eyes. I mean, I know that's not _possible_, but he _does_."

"We'll just get him cleaned up a bit," the nurse said. Monica handed her the baby, and she walked to another part of the room with him.

Monica turned to speak to Erica. "Oh my God, he's beautiful. Thank you so much."

"I'm really happy for you guys," she replied with a smile.

"How do you feel?" Chandler asked.

"I'm tired!" Erica replied, sounding very much like she meant it.

"Well, you don't have that much time to relax," the doctor said. "The other one will be along in a minute."

Chandler locked wide eyes with the doctor, completely shocked. Monica froze in place and turned around slowly to face them. In a croak, she said, "I . . . I'm sorry: _who_ should be along in a _what now_?

"_The next baby_ should be along in a minute," the doctor repeated calmly.

"We only ordered _one_," Monica stated in surprise and confusion.

"You know it's _twins_, right?" the doctor questioned.

"Oh, _yeah_," Chandler said, his tone dripping a mix of strong sarcasm and fear. "_These_ are the faces of two people in the know!"

"I can't believe you didn't know it's twins," the doctor replied, shock in _his_ voice as well now. "This has never happened before."

"Well, gosh," Chandler remarked. "That makes me feel so _special_ and _good_."

Monica turned away from Chandler to speak to the doctor again. "Wait, did _you_ know it was twins?"

"Yeah. It's here in the paperwork we got from the clinic in Ohio."

To Erica, Monica asked, "Anybody tell _you_?"

"I don't think so," she replied, but then added, "_Although_, they did mention something about two heartbeats. But I thought that was just _mine_ and the baby's. They kept saying 'both heartbeats are really strong', and I thought 'well, that's good 'cause I'm having a baby'."

"This is unbelievable," Monica said at a near loss for words.

"Twins actually run in my family," Erica realized.

"Interesting," Chandler said, not looking too happy. He turned to Monica. "Can I see you for a second?" They walked over to the door where nobody else would hear their conversation, and Monica feared what Chandler was about to say. In a voice just above a whisper, he asked in a panic, "What do we _do_?"

"What do you mean _'what do we do'_?" Monica questioned, anger creeping into her tone.

"Twins!" Chandler exclaimed. "_Twins!_"

"Chandler, you're panicking," Monica warned.

"Uh-huh! Join me, won't you?" He paused when he saw Monica's insulted-looking expression, but soon continued. "Okay, what do you say we keep _one_, and then just have an _option_ on the other one?"

"We can't split them up!" How could Chandler even _suggest_ such a horrible thing?

"Why not? We could give each of them half a medallion, and then _years_ later, they'll find each other and be reunited," Chandler offered. "I mean, that's a great day for _everybody_."

"What if the person who adopts the _other one_ is _horrible_?" Monica asked, fearing Chandler still wouldn't give in.

"What if they're _not_? What if it's adopted by a _king_?"

"Yeah, because I hear the king _is_ looking to adopt," Monica replied sarcastically.

"Monica, we are not ready to have _two_ babies," Chandler said slowly.

"That doesn't matter!" Monica shouted in desperation and anger. "We have waited _so_ _long_ for this, I don't care if it's two babies. I don't care if it's _three_ babies! I don't care if the entire cast of _Eight is Enough_ comes out of there! We are taking them home, because they are our _children_."

Chandler smiled. "Okay." He pulled Monica into a hug, silencing her. "Okay."

"Okay!" Monica shouted.

Chandler drew back a bit in shock. "Okay!"

"It looks like we're about ready over here," the doctor called to them. Chandler and Monica ran back over to Erica's bed. "Come on, Erica, start pushing again now." After another scream from Erica, the doctor said something that made Chandler's eyebrows shoot up in a slightly amusing way. "Here she comes!"

Shocked, Chandler asked, "She? It's a _girl_?"

"Yeah," the doctor said, smiling.

"Well, now we have one of _each_!" Chandler smiled, looking at Monica. "And that's _enough_."

* * *

**May 6, 2004**

**12:13 P.M.**

Monica stared down at her son in her arms, then looked over at her daughter being held by Chandler. She smiled because there was no better way to show just how unbelievably happy she was at the moment. "Do you think they recognize each other from in there?" she asked in a soft voice, referring to when their children were inside Erica.

"Maybe," Chandler said. "Unless they're like two people who have lived in apartments next to each other for years, and then one day they're pushed through a vagina and they meet." Monica laughed.

"We're going to take Erica to recovery now," the nurse said.

Before Erica left, Monica ran over to her, Chandler close behind. "There's something that we wanna tell you. We decided to name the girl-baby Erica."

"Oh my God. That's just like my name!" Erica said happily.

"Son of a gun, it is!" Monica chuckled.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go and get some rest. I'm really glad I picked you guys. You're gonna make great parents," Erica said. She then added, "Even Chandler."

They said their goodbyes as the nurses took Erica to the recovery room. Staring back down at their new children, Monica could not believe how adorable they were. "Oh, look at these little bunnies!"

"I know," Chandler agreed. "You ready to trade?"

"Okay." She tried to pass their son to Chandler while carefully getting their daughter from him, but neither one of them had any idea how to do it, so they both gave up fairly quickly.

"We could trade _later_," Chandler offered.

"Yeah, I'm good," Monica agreed. Once again staring down at their newborn baby son, she wondered what they should name him. "What do you think this little guy should be called?"

"Well, we named this one after her birth mother," Chandler said, gesturing with his head toward the baby in his arms. "Maybe we should name _him_ after someone, too."

Monica thought for a minute at that suggestion. She liked the idea. Thinking through all the men he could be named after, she was easily eliminating several names from the list. She knew Joey would want one of his friend's babies named after him, but the baby in her arms didn't look like a Joey. He didn't seem to be a Ross either—or a Chandler, not that she was really considering naming her son after his father. She didn't want to be forced to refer to her child as "Junior" whenever his dad was around.

"How about Jack?" Chandler offered.

Monica's eyes widened. How had she not thought of it already? Looking at her son, she could tell that he was clearly a Jack. "It's perfect," she replied, her eyes welling up with tears. "Happy birthday, Jack," she whispered. Her dad would be so happy.

Jack. It was a nice name. It had a nice ring to it. Jack Bing.

Jack and Erica Bing.


	2. Age One

_Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad to hear you guys like it. I am absolutely amazed at how many reviews and followers I've received with only having released one chapter so far._

_It's almost sad how much childhood development research I've had to do to be able to write this chapter, and I'm sure it will be no different with all the chapters to come._

_I can only picture what I'll be like as a mother. "Wait. Why is my nine-year-old already able to walk?"_

_Or to my newborn: "Speak. Say 'mama'. Come on. You can do it!"_

_Just to emphasize how little I know about childhood development, I had to look some stuff up to be able to write both those jokes._

* * *

**May 6, 2005**

**7:52 A.M.**

Chandler headed downstairs, Jack in his right arm and Erica in his left. Jack wore a sky-blue shirt with slightly darker blue shorts, and Erica wore a matching outfit of a light pink shirt with darker pink shorts. Their baby-blue eyes hadn't changed in hue one bit, still leaving the twins impossibly with Monica's gorgeous eyes. Chandler was thankful for that. He was also thankful for the fact that the small amount of hair they had each grown was dark. Erica had several lengthy strands of black, but her brother had barely grown any at all. It was just enough for Jack's hair color to be determined to be a dark brown, but so little that from a distance it looked as if he were still bald as the day he was born.

The biological father of the twins must have had dark hair like their adoptive parents. Thank God for dominant and recessive traits, Chandler thought. Not that he knew much on the subject, considering he had failed biology in high school. All he knew was that if a dark-haired individual had a kid with a light-haired individual, the kid would most likely have dark hair.

"Well, hey there, sleepy heads," Monica called from the kitchen as she watched her husband and children approach.

"Mama!" Jack shouted. It was about the only word he could fluently say at this age, and Monica loved hearing it.

She chuckled as Chandler handed her their son. "Hey, handsome boy." She ruffled his few strands of hair and smiled. "Happy birthday."

Looking down at Erica in his arms, Chandler gave her a happy birthday message as well. Then, speaking to Monica, he asked, "When are the others planning to get here?" He knew that since she was Monica, she had already planned the whole day out. He was partially thankful for not having to do any of the work in that department, though it still would have been nice to at least have been able to plan _some_ of his son and daughter's first birthday party.

"Ross and Rachel are planning to bring Emma and Ben around eight-thirty," she replied, going through the list in her head. "Phoebe and Mike are coming at nine, and Joey said he'll arrive at about nine, nine-fifteen."

"Ah, Joe. Always the late one," Chandler remarked.

"I'm actually surprised he plans to get up so early."

Chandler laughed. Hearing their father laugh made Jack and Erica giggle. "Oh, you guys are just so _cute_!" Chandler said in his typical parent-speaking-to-baby voice as he played gently with a strand of Erica's dark hair.

Monica watched, amused, as her husband played with their now one-year-old twins. She loved their cute matching outfits. It sure was fun having boy-girl twins. Not only did everything they owned match, but they were also clearly divided between them by their pink or blue coloring, and there was something so adorable and precious about that. Monica knew they wouldn't stay looking exactly the same for long. They already had different hair lengths and even slightly different hair color. Soon, those differences would become clearer and more prominent. Eventually, Jack and Erica would be old enough to dress themselves or pick out their own clothing at the store, and it would no longer be all blue for the boy and all pink for the girl—but Monica was fine with that. For now, she would enjoy their twin similarities. However, she would soon learn to appreciate their differences and accept the fact that they were two different people.

She could even see major appearance differences between Phoebe and her _identical_ twin sister Ursula. The two women were _definitely_, without a doubt, two different people. Phoebe was their friend. She was nice and crazy and fun. _Ursula_, on the other hand . . .

* * *

**May 6, 2005**

**8:36 A.M.**

It wasn't long before the tune of the doorbell ringing sounded throughout the home. Chandler was in the kitchen, feeding the twins breakfast. Monica went to get the door. Ross—who was holding his daughter of nearly two years, Emma—Rachel, and a now eight-year-old Ben were greeted by Monica's warm and welcoming smile. "Come on in." She waved them inside.

"Aunt Monica!" Ben exclaimed, running toward her and hugging her around the waist—which was as far up as he could reach with his short, little, eight-year-old arms. It seemed like just yesterday, however, Ben had been able to reach only up to her leg and clasp on. Time sure did fly by when it came to Monica and children. She could not believe her twins were already an entire year old.

"Hey, Ben," she greeted, smiling down at him. "You sure are growing tall. Soon, you'll be taller than your _dad_." She ruffled his short blond hair, causing him to immediately pull out of the hug and smooth his hair back. Monica chuckled. She was thankful for her brother getting Ben from Carol and Susan this weekend so that he could come to the party. She loved her little nephew. He had been the closest to her own child Monica had had before adopting Jack and Erica. Now, he was sort of like a glimpse into the future of Monica's parenthood. When he would become a teenager, the twins would only be half his age, giving Monica plenty of preparation time. She was glad about that. She had heard plenty of horror stories in her lifetime about the troubles of being the parent of a teen. She had always figured that it had more to do with the parents of these teens being caught off guard by what that period of parenthood entailed them than it did with actually _being_ the parent of a teenager that made it seem so difficult.

"I made some pancakes, if you guys haven't had breakfast yet," Monica offered, gesturing toward the kitchen with her hand.

Ben's face lit up with a grin. "Thanks, Aunt Monica!" He ran into the kitchen and found a seat at the table.

Ross chuckled. "He sure loves pancakes."

"He gets it from Joey," Monica remarked, basking in the glory of the angry glare she received.

They all made their way to the kitchen, Ross and Rachel sitting on either side of Ben. Chandler was across from the eight-year-old, where he was feeding the twins. He stood up and walked over to Monica. She didn't notice because she was now too busy watching Ross and Rachel. The couple was giving the twins baby talk and playing peek-a-boo. Monica looked on briefly in amusement until she felt Chandler's arms wrap around her waist. He pulled her to the other end of the room and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Let's get ourselves a couple more of those guys."

Monica spun around in his embrace to face him. "More Rosses and Rachels?" she joked. "No, thank you. The original two are enough to handle by themselves at the moment." She smirked mischievously.

"_You_ stop it!" he ordered. "_I'm_ the funny one." Monica laughed. "But _seriously_, Mon. I want more kids."

Her eyes lit up. "How _many_ more?"

"Well, it sure is fun having twins," he hinted.

"More twins?" Monica asked, a quiver of excitement in her voice.

"Yeah," Chandler replied with one of his signature smiles. "Hopefully, they'll be a boy and a girl again. You know, so we can have tug-of-war battles and evenly distribute the boys against the girls."

Monica chuckled. "Are your fantasies of the future _always_ so detailed?" she asked, having a sudden flashback to something he had said years ago. She and Chandler had been planning their wedding, and Chandler had been explaining why he hadn't initially wanted to spend all his money on the ceremony. He had gone into such detail on what he saw their future together to be. Monica remembered him saying he wanted two boys and two girls, though in a very different order than they were turning out now.

"Yeah, they are," Chandler said softly, once again flashing her a cute, loving smile.

Monica wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love it," she whispered. "I love having twins, I would love to have more, and, above all, I love _you_."

"I love you, too, Mon."

Monica was amazed that, after years of marriage, those three special words still carried so much meaning. They kissed, with Chandler pulling away when he noticed Ross glaring at him from across the kitchen. "What? So I can't even kiss my _wife_ now?"

"Not around _me_, no," Ross said sternly, with a look of slight disgust on his face.

"Oh, come on, Ross," Chandler argued. "That kiss was _romantic_. It's not like we were _groping_ each other." Ben looked up at Ross in confusion. Ross glared at Chandler, expecting him to say something. "You'll find out soon enough, Ben." Ben gave his father—and now Chandler as well—another look of confusion before going back to his pancakes.

* * *

**May 6, 2005**

**9:12 A.M.**

The group was still enjoying their slow breakfast and making small talk when the sound of the doorbell filled the house. Chandler went to get the door, Monica following not far behind. Chandler threw open the front door and smiled when he saw not only Phoebe and Mike, but _Joey_, too.

"Hey, Chan," Joey said with a huge grin as he threw his arms around his old buddy and embraced him in a hug. He quickly pulled away, leaving it at a "man hug" and nothing more. "Long time, so see, man."

"Yeah," Chandler agreed. "I missed you, buddy."

"_Hello?_" Phoebe asked. "Anybody notice Phoebe and Mike just standing over here with nobody talking to them?"

"Oh, sorry, Pheebs," Chandler apologized. "It's just been a long time for us."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Phoebe dismissed. "You love each other. Blah, blah, blah."

Chandler laughed sarcastically. "Ha, ha—_no_." His eyebrows rose suddenly into a serious expression.

Phoebe laughed. "Okay. _Whatever you say_," she mused with sure sarcasm in her tone.

"Anyway," Monica interrupted. "There're some pancakes in the kitchen if you guys want breakfast."

"Awesome!" Joey said quickly before taking off toward the kitchen. Phoebe and Mike soon followed, in a much slower walk, of course.

"Oh, look at _that_. We're all alone," Chandler pointed out. He smiled and gave Monica a quick kiss on the lips.

She chuckled and gave him a slight shove. "Come on. Let's go be with the others."

"Oh, _fine_," he pouted. "But, just between you and me, I don't really like any of them. I only _really_ like _you_."

"What about your _children_?"

"Meh," Chandler joked, shrugging his shoulders.

Monica playfully smacked his arm. "Come on. We have a party to run."

"No. _You_ have a party to run," Chandler corrected. "_I_, however, have a party to _enjoy_."

"I _enjoy_ running," Monica retorted.

"Well, that's just _your_ opinion."

"Come on. Let's go," Monica said, grabbing hold of Chandler's hand and pulling him toward the kitchen.

"Or, instead, we could talk about this whole 'getting more kids' idea."

Monica turned to face him. "What about it?"

"Is it official? Are we adopting twins?"

Monica smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"Maybe this time, we can specify that we're looking for boy-girl twins," Chandler offered. "I mean, it might take a little longer to find someone, but they'll have to be fairly far-along in their pregnancy to know that they're having both a boy and girl, so it still won't be _too_ long of a wait before we get our babies."

Monica's grin grew so that it now stretched from ear to ear. She loved hearing him say the word "babies" and loved seeing him so excited to have more children. She once again pulled him into a kiss. When they parted, Monica gazed lovingly into her husband's deep blue eyes and gave him a small smile. "_Now_, can we go celebrate our children's birthday?"

* * *

**May 6, 2005**

**1:47 P.M.**

"Goodbye! We really had fun," Rachel said with a smile as she, Ross, Emma, and Ben headed toward the front door to leave. Monica held Erica in her arms, Chandler doing the same with Jack. "Happy birthday, little guys," she added before stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

"I've got to go, too," Joey announced. "I have this audition tomorrow that I can't miss. It's for this really cool-sounding movie about . . . something involving science. Anyway, see you guys soon, I hope. I really missed you guys."

"Missed you, too, Joe," Chandler reciprocated.

"Man hug?" Joey suggested with an awkward expression on his face that Monica couldn't help but find slightly amusing.

"Man hug," Chandler confirmed, wrapping his arms around Joey, who willingly hugged back. "I'll miss you, man."

"I hope I can visit you guys more often," Joey said before turning to leave. Phoebe and Mike had already left about half an hour ago, leaving the little four-person family all alone once again.

* * *

**May 6, 2005**

**8:56 P.M.**

That night, after Monica had finally managed to put Jack and Erica down for a nap, Chandler and Monica looked into various adoption agencies.

They were hesitant to go back to the one they had relied on last time when adopting Jack and Erica. After the agency had mixed up the Bings' file with another couple's, Monica and Chandler were a bit unsure of how trust-worthy they were. The mix-up had almost cost them their babies. Of course, _that_ incident had been mostly Monica's fault due to her insisting to Chandler that they lie.

She knew better _now_ than to do something stupid like that again. This time, they would choose a new adoption agency, and the files would not get mixed up, and they would not need to lie. Monica and Chandler would be getting their children fair and square. They would be the chosen couple—not some other couple that would get mistaken for the Bings.

They would do it right this time.


	3. Age Two-Birth - Part I

_Thank you guys for all the reviews! You seriously have no idea how happy they make me to read._

_I would just like to take a moment to apologize to anyone reading either of my other two stories for how long it's been taking me to update them. The way I write my stories is I have three Word documents open all the time on my computer, and I write in whichever story I feel like writing at the moment. Since I've been getting so many ideas for this story and very few for my other two, then I've been able to update this one a little quicker. I am striving, however, to work more evenly on each story so that their updates come more regularly._

_Another reason why I find this story easier to update quickly than the others is because of all the feedback I've been getting for it. It seems fairly popular and, based on reviews, fairly loved. If you don't write stories yourself, you have no idea how encouraging a simple review is to work on the next update._

_I really don't want to hold you guys up any longer reading this explanation and excuse stuff. I just want to get on with the story. I think you guys are going to like this chapter. It's a little longer than the past two, but it's also much more eventful. I couldn't help but make it as long as it is, yet I still had to break it up into two parts._

_Anyway, without further ado, here is Chapter Three – Age Two (2006) – Part One. (Dang, that's a long title.) I hope you guys enjoy!_

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**2:56 P.M.**

Monica had never anticipated the second birthday of her young children, Jack and Erica Bing, going so horribly, _horribly_ wrong. How could she have seen it coming? The doctor had said that Anna's twins weren't due for another two weeks. Why did it have to work out this way?

Though, she had to admit, there was _some_ good to the situation. It wasn't like it would be _all_ bad to have all four of her children celebrating their birthdays on the same day. In fact, it even sounded kind of fun. It would make May sixth just _that_ much more special.

Plus, would her two-year-olds even _remember_ this birthday anyway?

_No_, Monica told herself with bitter sarcasm. _They won't remember the most mentally scarring day of their lives. No, they won't remember their own parents abandoning them on their birthday._ She had to take a deep breath as she once again felt tears prick her eyes. _Stop thinking like that, Monica. Those thoughts aren't going to fix anything. Just stop._

Noticing her sorrow, Chandler reached for her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. His soft touch caused a smile to involuntarily crease her lips. He smiled back.

"Jack and Erica are going to be fine," he said in a soft, soothing voice.

She nodded her head. Her smile faded for a moment but quickly returned. "That's what I keep telling myself." As her loving husband pulled her into a hug, she couldn't help but recap in her mind every little detail of what had gone wrong today that had caused them to wind up in their current situation.

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**9:33 A.M.**

"Jack! Erica!" Monica called upstairs to her now two-year-old children. "Breakfast!" Within seconds, the twins were hurried on their little feet down the steps as fast as their new-to-running-and-using-stairs legs could carry them. Monica cringed slightly at the thought of one of them tripping and tumbling down, but she knew deep down that they would be fine and that she was just being one of those overly-protective mothers. When they reached the bottom of the steps, she bent down and pulled them both into a hug. "Happy birthday, my little bunnies!"

Jack hugged back, but Erica pulled away. "Where's Daddy?"

Monica's smile dropped slightly, but she willed herself to bring it back. "I'm sorry, honey, but he's at work. As soon as he gets home, though, he'll be ready for your party."

Jack pulled out of the hug as well now. "Uncle Joey?" he asked.

"Yes, Uncle Joey is coming," Monica replied. She loved that her children were now old enough to fully communicate. Now, they were less of babies and more of miniature people. They had their own personalities and differentiating appearances. Erica now had short black hair, which oddly reminded Monica of when she _herself_ used to cut her hair short. Jack finally had enough of his brown curls that he no longer looked so bald. And they both still had Monica's eyes—even if it wasn't possible. By this point, there was little chance their eye color would change, especially since it hadn't changed even slightly since the day they were born.

"Yay!" Jack and Erica simultaneously shouted with glee, causing Monica to chuckle.

"Come on guys," she said to her twins, waving them into the kitchen. "Let's go get some food in you two."

"Yay!" they cheered once again in unison. Monica had promised to make a special birthday breakfast for them, and she had delivered. As the twins ran into the kitchen, they found two towering stacks of chocolate chip pancakes waiting for them on the table.

The two-year-olds stood wide-eyed as they stared at their breakfast. Jack pointed a shaky finger toward the table and asked with the slightest quiver in his voice, "Can we?"

Monica nodded and smiled. "Go ahead. Eat up."

Two huge grins broke out on two adorable faces. The twins were just learning the concept of favorites, and as of now, pancakes were their favorite food. They ran up to the table and took their respective seats. Monica helped them pour on syrup and cut their pancakes, but she let them take over in the eating process in which they clumsily moved their forks from the plate to pick up a bite of pancake to their mouths to eat it. Erica seemed to be getting the hang of utensil-use better than Jack, but Monica knew he would catch up soon enough. After all, they were still only two, and _barely_ two.

Deciding to give them some independence, Monica moved away from the table. What was the worst that could happen anyway? Jack spills some syrup on himself? Monica chuckled at the thought. Having kids really helped her change her obsessive cleaning habits. She had gotten used to the house being a little more of a mess. Some things still bothered her, but she didn't let the little things get to her. In her two years of parenthood, she had learned to fully accept the fact that her children would leave toys around the house, that they would make messes, that not everything could be perfectly and completely clean and organized all the time.

As she heard the phone ringing from the living room, Monica darted for it and checked the caller ID. She felt her heart drop. Swallowing hard, she pressed TALK. She held the phone up to her ear and braced herself for the news.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly at the thought of all the possibilities of why she was receiving a call from the hospital.

"Hello," a woman on the other end replied with a sense of urgency in her voice. "Are you Mrs. Bing?"

"Y—yes," Monica answered. "Why? What's wrong?" Her mind raced with questions, but she was too much of in a haze to recognize any of them. All the words seemed to blend together in her brain to the point of being indecipherable.

"It's Anna," the voice answered.

Monica's blood ran cold. Anna was the mother of the twins Monica and Chandler were to be adopting. She was due in just two weeks. Well, at least that was the plan.

"What about Anna?" Monica asked, no longer caring how high-pitched and worried her voice sounded. Jack and Erica were probably too distracted by their pancakes to notice their mother panicking in the other room.

"She just went into labor."

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**10:14 A.M.**

Monica had initially been relieved at the news. Anything was better than finding out something had happened to her babies. But the closer she came to the hospital during the taxi ride there, the more she thought over how terrible this situation really was.

When the cab stopped in front of the hospital, Monica paid the driver and stepped out, her legs suddenly feeling too weak to walk. Could there be a better way to ruin a child's birthday than by having both their parents gone all day? Monica had called Ross and Rachel to watch the twins, so at least they still had _some_ company and could play with Emma. Sadly, Ben was with Carol and Susan this week. Not that Monica thought Jack and Erica would want to hang out with a nine-year-old anyway.

Once Monica finally built up the courage to go inside, she entered the hospital and walked up to the front desk. Before she could ask anything, however, Chandler appeared next to her. She immediately wrapped her arms around him.

"How long have you been here?" Monica asked her husband.

"Only, like, ten minutes," he replied.

"Have you had a chance to see Anna yet?" She stepped back out of the hug slightly so she could more easily speak to him.

Chandler shook his head. "No. I figured I may as well wait for you." He paused, thinking. "Who's watching the twins?"

"I called Ross and Rachel," Monica answered. "I told Jack and Erica I would be back in time for their party, and I sure hope that's true."

"We'll be back in time," Chandler reassured her. He glanced at his watch. "It's not even ten-thirty yet, and the party isn't until tonight."

"Do you remember when Rachel was in labor with Emma?" Monica reminded him.

"This isn't going to take two days. The universe has screwed things up for us _enough_. We deserve for this to go right." He gave her a warm smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. "I just have a feeling the universe is going to lay off, at least for today."

Monica stroked his arm. "Okay. You're probably right." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Let's go see Anna."

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**10:36 A.M.**

By the time Monica and Chandler had found Anna's room information and actually physically found her room, Monica was shaking with worry. Chandler continuously fed her reassuring comments of how everything was going to be alright, but she wasn't buying it.

Chandler was right in saying that the universe had a tendency to mess things up for them, especially when it came to children. First with Chandler being afraid of the whole idea of being a parent in itself. Then, when he finally agreed, when he was finally ready, they found out they couldn't even _have_ kids. And then the adoption agency mixed up their files, almost leaving them childless once again. Finding out they were having _twins_ nearly caused Chandler to freak. He had actually considered splitting them up.

And now this.

Now that they finally had the children they had wanted for so damn long, the universe was determined to ruin it for them. Both possibilities at this point seemed like bad alternatives. Either Anna's labor was a slow one, causing Monica and Chandler to miss Jack and Erica's second birthday, or the new twins were born _today_, leaving Monica and Chandler with babies to take care of instead of being able to celebrate their children's birthday, which would also mean that all four kids would have to share a birthday. Monica figured it had to be bad enough _already_ to share a birthday with a twin—she had heard plenty from Phoebe—but with _three_ other siblings? Way to make a person's birthday not special to them at all.

Taking notice to her distress, Chandler wrapped an arm around her. "Come on," he said gently. "Let's go inside." Monica nodded. He opened the door to Anna's room and stepped inside, Monica following reluctantly behind.

Inside the room lay a woman in her early twenties with sandy brown hair and blue eyes in a hospital bed. She had a very significant bump in her stomach area. A doctor and two nurses surrounded the bed. Seeing Monica and Chandler approaching, the nurses walked off, and the doctor gave them some room.

Monica and Chandler stood to the right of Anna's bed to speak to her.

"Wow. That looks painful," Chandler commented.

Monica elbowed him slightly. "What did we agree?" she asked sternly.

"I don't talk unless absolutely necessary," Chandler muttered.

"More specifically?" Monica inquired.

"I'm not allowed to bring up the pain of pregnancy, labor, or childbirth," he replied. "Nor am I allowed to make _comparisons_ to the pain of pregnancy, labor, or childbirth."

"Oh," Monica said with a sense of sarcasm in her tone. "You _do_ remember the rule."

"Sorry," Chandler murmured.

Speaking now to Anna, Monica asked, "How's it going?"

"Well, Chandler was right in that this is very, very painful," Anna replied. "But, on the bright side, I know it only gets worse from here on out."

"That's the spirit," Chandler remarked.

"Anything we can do for you?" Monica asked.

"No, I'm fine," Anna said. "They actually said it's going to be a fairly slow labor, so _yippee_!"

"If that sarcasm gets passed along to the babies, they'll never even _suspect_ they were adopted," Chandler pointed out.

"I think it's just the pregnancy talking," Anna replied with a shrug. "So, you don't plan to tell the twins they're adopted?"

"We decided against it," Monica said. "If that's alright with you, I mean."

"Yeah, sure. That's fine," she said. "I would prefer it that way anyway. I don't want the kids wondering where their _real_ mommy is."

Monica's expression dropped. "I'm sorry you have to give them up."

"It's okay. I probably wouldn't have been that great of a mother anyway. Plus, you guys seem like amazing parents based on what your kids say about you."

Monica's eyes lit up at that statement. "What have they said about us?"

"Well, I know Erica once called you 'the best mommy ever'," Anna replied to Monica. Then, to Chandler, "And I believe Jack said you were 'cool and funny'."

"_I'm_ cool?" Chandler questioned. "My son thinks I'm cool?"

Monica chuckled.

"By the way—just wondering," Anna began, "How exactly did you explain to your kids that I'm pregnant with their new brother and sister?"

Monica answered. "The way we described it to them, we made it sound like you're a surrogate."

"_Way_ easier than giving them '_the_ _talk'_," Chandler commented.

"I would imagine so," Anna agreed with a laugh. The laughter suddenly stopped when she looked to be in serious pain. "Ow, ow, ow!" After a couple seconds, she took a deep breath. "Damn those contractions," she muttered.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Monica asked again.

"No, really, I'm fine," Anna replied. "The contractions aren't all that bad. They're fairly far apart right now, so that's good, I suppose."

"You _suppose_?" Chandler questioned.

"Well, _yeah_," Anna answered. "Like I said, it's gonna be a slow labor."

"How slow?" Monica asked with a barely recognizable quiver in her voice. She strained to keep her pitch level.

"We're not really sure," the doctor—a woman who looked to be in her mid-forties—cut in, overhearing the conversation. "It's hard to tell at this point."

"Can you at least make a guess?" Monica half-begged. "A couple hours? A couple days? What is it?"

The doctor chuckled slightly as she spoke. "I doubt it'll be a couple _days_. A good number of _hours_, yes, but nothing more than a day, I'm sure."

Monica swallowed in an unsuccessful attempt to clear the lump in her throat. "Well . . . _goody_," she said, running both hands through her raven-black hair.

Chandler wrapped his arms around her. "Hey," he whispered calmingly in her ear. "Hey, it's—"

"Don't tell me it's okay, because it's _not_ okay!" Monica snapped, pulling away from him. "Just . . . just _stop_. Okay, Chandler? Just stop!"

"Stop?" Chandler questioned, drawing back at his wife's sudden outburst. "Stop _what_?"

"Stop . . . stop telling me everything's going to be alright, because it's not. I know it's not. I'm not fooled, Chandler."

"I'm not trying to _fool_ you," Chandler defended.

"Just stop," Monica repeated. She suddenly started moving toward the door. Chandler tried grabbing her arm to halt her, but to no avail. She simply shoved him off, shooting him another "just stop", and stormed out of the room.

* * *

_Whoa, Monica! What's wrong?_

_What will happen next? Will Jack and Erica's party be ruined?_

_You'll have to wait to find out._

_I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and if you're really enjoying the story in general so far, then you might want to read the following message. I'm posting the message at the bottom of the next chapter for all three of my stories._

_This is an opportunity for those who are fans of any of my three stories. If you PM me or write in your review of this chapter stating which story you would like to follow updates of, then I will PM you with what will most likely be daily updates of how I'm progressing with writing the next chapter. Details such as the number of words I've written that day, hints at what's in store for the next chapter, and even sneak peaks at a paragraph or two of the next chapter will be included in these messages._

_Once again, if you are interested, all you have to do is write a review for this chapter or send me a PM stating which story or stories you wish to follow the updates of._

_I hope at least one person decides to follow my story updates. I will very much enjoy informing you guys of what's next to come. ;)_


	4. Age Two-Birth - Part II

_Time for Part Two!_

_As to those of you reviewing, you are very beautiful people._

_MondlerFan941 – I'm glad to see you would like to receive updates, but there's one small problem. When I tried to reply to your review, a message came up saying that you disabled the private messaging feature. If you could fix that, then I can start sending you the PMs._

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_This is going to be a long chapter. I just know it. Good thing I broke it up into two parts. I really should have gone with three, now that I think about it._

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**10:50 A.M.**

Monica found a seat in the waiting area and plopped herself down. She threw her head into her hands, elbows resting on her lap.

What a scene she had caused! Why did she have to freak out like that? Chandler hadn't done anything wrong. He had just been trying to reassure her, make her feel better. Yet, she only pushed him away and yelled at him. Poor Chandler. He was so sweet and caring, and he was always forced to put up with Monica's high-maintenance personality.

Monica really didn't deserve him. At least, that was what the current stress and depression were telling her.

Not surprisingly, she soon felt the warm hand of the exact man she did not deserve land upon her shoulder. She didn't even bother looking up.

"Honey . . ." he began.

"Please, just let me be alone for a little while," Monica pleaded.

Chandler sighed and removed his hand. "Can I be alone _with_ you?"

Monica almost smiled. Almost. She nodded. She could hear Chandler's footsteps in front of her moving to her left where he took the seat next to her.

They sat in silence for a while, both figuring no good would come of them speaking.

They had been in dead silence for well over ten minutes when Chandler finally caved.

"I'm sorry," he said so quietly, he wasn't sure if she had heard. There was a long pause, and he considered repeating himself.

Monica took her head out of her hands and turned to face him. "Why are _you_ sorry?"

"I should have . . . just stopped," he said, half-teasingly.

Monica let out a light snort of laughter. "Don't be sorry. I was just . . . acting crazy."

Chandler swiveled his body around to more easily speak to her and rested his hands upon hers. "You weren't acting crazy. I completely understand your reaction," he said soothingly. "You're just . . . You're just stressed, that's all. I mean, this is a big thing, getting more babies. And having it fall on Jack and Erica's birthday . . . I understand, Mon."

Monica smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."

"For what?" he asked curiously.

"For . . . just stopping," Monica replied. "Instead of telling me it'll all be alright, you told me the truth: that everything will _not_ be alright."

"And that makes you _happy_?" Chandler questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, _yeah_," Monica said plainly, like the answer was obvious. "Because you finally admitted that I'm right. And I'm _always_ right."

He thought that over for a minute, but couldn't quite comprehend the statement. Being right was more important than being in a good situation? "You Gellers are so confusing," he muttered.

Monica chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it sort of runs in the family, doesn't it?"

"You think?" Chandler mused. He stood up. "I'm gonna go check on Anna. You coming or . . . ?"

"No, I think I'll just stay here for a bit," Monica said. "Just, you know, thinking."

Chandler nodded. "Okay. Well, see you later, I suppose." He began to walk off, but not before being halted by a call from Monica.

"Wait, Chandler!" she called after him.

He turned around. "Yeah?"

"Remember the rule," she reminded him. "No discussing pain-related topics."

He nodded his head. "Got it." And with that, he headed off again.

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**12:47 P.M.**

Monica kept telling herself that she would go back to Anna's room.

It started off with her saying in her head that she would be getting up any second. Then, it turned to "in a minute". And then five minutes. Then ten. And that process stretched on until she had been sitting in that chair for well over an hour, maybe even two by now. She wasn't sure. There was no clock around, and she didn't have a watch to check. Not that she would want to know anyway.

She hated leaving Chandler alone with a woman in labor. Last time she did that, it had only been for two minutes, yet he had still managed to find himself in an uncomfortable situation discussing a disturbing topic. Now, it was for possibly two _hours_. And even more if she didn't get up now. She could only imagine what was going on in that room right now. Though, Monica had been very clear with Chandler that he was not to discuss pain in any way whatsoever, especially not any kind of pain in relation to having children.

Poor Anna was already going through _enough_ with being forced to give up her own children. Unlike the _last_ woman Monica and Chandler had adopted from, Anna's children had been _planned_, and she actually _wanted_ to be a mother. There were complications with her family who had pressured her into putting her babies up for adoption. The father of the twins turned out to be Jewish, and Anna's parents had an apparent strong prejudice against Jews, something that really seemed to irk Monica.

That was one reason Monica had for actually liking her mother. Judy Geller would never have disapproved of her daughter marrying _anybody_, even if he was a serial killer.

Now that Monica was married to Chandler, her mother had eased off a bit. Still, she could be _so_ disapproving of her daughter. Monica made a promise to herself that she would never treat her daughters like her mother treated her. She faintly remembered her mother telling her that Nana had been judgmental of every decision _she_ made, just like _she_ was to her _own_ daughter. Monica wondered if Nana's mother had been the same way. Well, Monica figured, it was time for it all to stop. And she would be the one stopping it. She would try to be as supportive of her daughters and their decisions as humanly possible.

She liked that the word "daughter" was now pluralized. She thought about her new daughter, wondered what she would be like. Would she have the sandy brown hair of her birth mother, or whatever color hair her biological father had? Monica had never met the guy, and Anna didn't exactly like talking about him too much.

Monica hoped her new daughter would have blue eyes, like both her adoptive parents. Same with her new son. A family of blue eyes. The kids would never even _suspect_ they were adopted.

Then there was personality, which would probably be derived more from how they would be raised. Would her four children become a sarcastic, obsessive mix? She chuckled slightly at the thought.

Putting herself into this better mood made her more willing to go back to the room. She finally stood up and began walking down the hallway that led back to Anna's room.

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**1:08 P.M.**

Monica stood just outside the room, on the other side of the door, ready to open it. She took a deep breath. No doubt, she felt guilty about being gone so long. Sure, Chandler seemed to get along better with Anna than he had with Erica, but still. There was no way they could be completely and wholeheartedly enjoying each other's company.

She wrapped her hand around the doorknob and swung open the door. On the other side were once again the doctor and two nurses, though they were now away from Anna's bed, in the other end of the room. Anna, of course, lay in bed, and next to her was a laughing and smiling Chandler who looked to be in the middle of a joke.

"And then the farmer said," Monica heard Chandler say as he did not notice her come in, "'I don't even _have_ a daughter!'"

Anna laughed.

Obviously, the joke would have been funnier if Monica had been there to hear the entire thing. She was glad to see Chandler was keeping the woman in labor company. Monica smiled. She walked up to the bed, where Chandler finally turned and noticed her there.

"Hey, look who's here," he commented, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a quick kiss.

"I see you two are getting along," Monica pointed out, motioning with her hand between Chandler and Anna.

"Yeah," Anna agreed. "Chandler's a great guy. Nice pick, Monica."

Monica laughed. "Well, you _are_ right about _that_." She was amazed by how different Chandler seemed to be acting around this woman than how he had acted around Erica. He must have matured in the two years. Two years ago, Monica never could have pictured "Chandler" and "mature" being put into the same sentence without the word "not" somewhere in there as well.

"Why didn't girls think of me this way in _high school_?" Chandler wondered aloud.

"Because your hair was atrocious," Monica immediately replied, no hesitation, no thought put into the reply. It was almost like the answer was a reflex to the question.

"Wait, what was his hair like?" Anna asked, suddenly sounding very interested in the topic.

Monica answered. "He had a flock of seagulls haircut."

Anna stifled a laugh. "Oh, my God," she said, putting a hand up to her mouth to hide her goofy grin.

"What?" Chandler asked. "What's so funny? A lot of guys had strange haircuts at the time."

"Yes," Anna agreed, "But I'm not from that time." Then, turning to Monica, she asked, "Please tell me you have a picture or _something_."

"Sorry, not with me," Monica apologized.

"Not _with you_?" Chandler questioned. "Where _do_ you have a picture?"

"Let's change the subject," Monica said suddenly.

"Good idea," Chandler muttered. "Let's talk about what _you_ were like in high school, Mon."

"Let's _not_," she retorted.

"Why?" Anna asked curiously. "What were you like in high school?"

"Chandler, don't you say a _word_," Monica warned.

Chandler smirked. "What was she like in high school, you ask?"

"_Chandler_," Monica warned him again, gritting her teeth.

"I'm starting to think that maybe she doesn't want you to tell me," Anna said to Chandler. "Maybe we should just drop it."

"We _should_," Monica agreed.

"Okay, okay," Chandler gave in.

"Okay, good," Monica said, relieved. "For a second there, I thought you were actually going to—"

"She was _fat_," Chandler said suddenly.

Monica rolled her eyes. "Real mature, Chandler."

Anna gave Chandler a look of disturbance. "I find it interesting how you find a woman being larger than average _so_ hilarious to the point of having to share it with a pregnant woman," she pointed out.

Chandler's expression turned immediately from amusement to one of worry. "No, no, no," he said quickly. "I didn't mean it like that. You—you don't look fat. Not that I would find that, you know, funny or anything."

Anna snickered slightly. "I'm just messing with you," she admitted. "But really: so Monica was fat in high school. What's the big deal?"

"Can we _please_ just drop the subject," Monica pleaded.

"Maybe we should just not discuss high school at _all_," Anna suggested.

Chandler suddenly turned toward her. "Why? Something you don't want us to know?"

"No," Anna said quickly. "Just no more high school talk. Please."

"Oh, _fine_," Chandler caved.

"Ow!" Anna suddenly yelled, causing Monica and Chandler's heads to jerk toward her. "Ow, ow, ow." After several deep breaths, she mustered up enough energy to curse under her breath.

"The contractions are still so far apart," Chandler commented.

It was this statement that snapped Monica back to reality. For several minutes now, she had managed to completely forget about what she had been worrying about for _hours_ on end. She tried to keep on her mask of happiness, but it was sure to fall. She noticed Chandler looking at her funny.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Monica croaked. "I'm fine. I—I just need to go get some water." She turned to leave, but Chandler stopped her.

"I'll come with you," he said. "I'm . . . a bit thirsty myself."

Monica nodded, knowing she wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. With how long she had been gone the last time she left, she perfectly understood him wanting to come with her. They left the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, Chandler began to speak.

"You don't _actually_ want water, do you?"

"No, I don't _want _water," Monica agreed, only to turn it back around. "I _need_ water."

"Very well then. Let's go get some water, I suppose."

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**3:14 P.M.**

After getting the water, they had planned on making their way back to the room, but as they had been passing the waiting area, an urge had taken over, and Monica had convinced her husband to stay there for a little bit.

"I—I guess we should be heading back to the room now," Monica reluctantly suggested. In reality, she just wanted to sit in silence and think things over. But that wasn't the right choice. "I mean, we've been gone for . . . quite a long time."

"We don't have to," Chandler offered, causing Monica to look up at him in shock and joy. "Anna was probably getting sick of us anyway."

Monica nodded, allowing the newfound silence between them to take over. It stretched on for minutes on end, and Monica realized that maybe she _didn't_ want to sit in silence. "Well, as long as we're here," she began, "We may as well discuss our situation."

Chandler turned toward her, looking relieved to say goodbye to the silence. "What _about_ our situation?"

"You know what? Forget it," Monica said, realizing she really didn't want to even think about it. Then, out of nowhere, "I miss Jack and Erica. I mean, it's their _birthday_. We should be there with them."

"We could call them," Chandler suggested, pulling out his cell phone. Monica nodded, and he began to dial. "Hello?" A pause. "Hey, Rachel. Could you put it on speaker? Where the twins can hear?" Chandler set his own phone to speaker.

"Daddy?" Erica's voice could be heard through the phone as Chandler held it up.

"And Mommy," Monica added. "Is Jack there?"

"Yes, he's right here," Rachel said.

Monica smiled. Just being able to speak to her children made this so much easier. "I just wanted to tell you guys that we love you, and happy birthday."

Whispers could be heard on the other end, including Rachel's voice asking, "What's that, Jack?" Then, back in a regular speaking voice, she spoke back to Monica and Chandler. "Jack wants to know when you guys are going to be home."

Monica glanced at Chandler, who in turn rested his hands upon hers, something he seemed to be doing a lot today. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, one of the nurses from Anna's room came running over to them.

"The babies: they're coming!" she shouted.

"What?" Chandler questioned. "I thought you said it would be a slow labor."

"Well, it's not as slow as we thought. Come on!" She gestured for them to follow.

Speaking back into the phone, Monica knew Rachel and the twins must have heard the nurse. "I'm gonna have to call you back." She quickly hung up before they could reply and handed the cell phone back to Chandler, who in turn put it away. They both stood up and followed the nurse down the corridor and back to Anna's room.

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**3:23 P.M.**

Monica, Chandler, and the nurse barged through the door and into Anna's room just in time to see the first child being born.

The doctor held the newborn up and announced, "It's a girl."

Monica and Chandler exchanged a smile, then looked back up at their new daughter.

It wasn't long before the boy was born as well. After the process of cutting the umbilical cords and having the nurses clean up their babies and wrap them up in a blue and a pink blanket, the couple was handed their new children.

Chandler stared down at the boy in his arms, and then over to the girl in Monica's. "What do you think we should name these guys?"

Monica didn't even look up from her new daughter. "I—I think she's an Anna."

"You want to name our daughter after her birth mother again?" Chandler inquired.

"Yeah," Monica said, nodding her head slowly. "I guess it's become a bit of a tradition."

"Tradition?" Chandler croaked. "No, not a tradition. Because the word 'tradition' implies we're having more kids, and I personally think the four are enough."

Monica chuckled. "Seriously though. She's clearly an Anna. Plus, I always wanted to name my daughter Emma, and Anna's pretty close. Sort of."

"Okay. Her name is Anna. Hi, Anna," he greeted his newborn daughter. "What about the boy? You told me you wanted to name your son Daniel, but that never really happened, so how about he's a Daniel?"

Monica walked over to look at her son, and studying his features, she could tell Chandler was right. He was definitely a Daniel. She nodded her head. "Happy birthday, Anna and Daniel." Her voice cracked with emotion. "Oh, I love them already."

"You're Monica," Chandler said. "You loved them even before sperm hit egg."

Monica laughed. "I guess we should be heading home. We do have a party to attend."

Chandler checked his watch. "And just in time. If the little guys waited just an hour longer to come out, this wouldn't have worked out. But now . . . I mean, the four are still going to be sharing a birthday—"

"But we'll still make it special for them," Monica interrupted. "We'll make it work. I mean, sextuplets exist, and that's a _lot_ of people to share a birthday with. But they make it work. And I'm sure there's some family out there where all the kids and both the parents share a birthday, and they still make it work." She paused. "We'll make this work."

* * *

**May 6, 2006**

**4:24 P.M.**

Standing at the front door to their home, Monica and Chandler weren't quite ready to go inside yet. Still holding Daniel, Chandler carefully pulled out his cell phone and dialed their home number. He immediately put it on speaker.

"Hello?" Rachel asked.

"You asked when we would be home," Chandler spoke into the phone. "The answer is right now."

"Wha—?"

Rachel was interrupted by a knock on the door. Chandler smirked. The door opened, and Rachel practically squealed at the sight of her new niece and nephew. "Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. "They are so adorable!"

Not surprisingly, Monica's response was a shouted, "I know!"

"Well, come in, come in." She waved them inside their own home, which Chandler found slightly humorous. They stepped inside and found seats on the couch in the living room. Rachel turned to face the kitchen and yelled into it, "Ross! Come look!" Hearing all the yelling, the twins and Emma came running out of the kitchen, Ross soon following behind.

"What? What's going—?" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw his sister and brother-in-law. Then, he noticed the babies. "Oh, my God." He walked up to them and knelt down to speak directly to the babies. "Hey, there little guys. What are your names?"

Chandler, giving him an odd look, asked him, "You know they can't actually _reply_, don't you?"

"The boy is Daniel," Monica answered, ignoring Chandler's joke. "And the girl is Anna."

Jack and Erica approached them slowly. Erica stayed back a bit, staring on with wide eyes. Jack came a little closer. His eyes darted back and forth between the two babies before he looked suddenly up at his mother.

"These are your new brother and sister," Monica said softly.

Not knowing what else to say, Jack and Erica simultaneously whispered, "Wow."

* * *

_That is officially the longest chapter I've ever written for this site._

_Hugefriendsfan00 – Sorry, but I had this planned the entire time, and I really didn't have much of a choice but to give them all the same birthday. I wanted all four kids to be a part of this story, and I would have felt bad only writing about Jack and Erica's birthday in every chapter after this and not about Daniel and Anna's. Plus, I think this will make the story more interesting._

_I would also like to address the issue of having all four children winding up with the same birthday seeming unrealistic. I know there's a very low chance of that happening, but I actually know quite a few people who share birthdays with their younger or older siblings._

_On a barely related note: My mom has a friend who married a man with her same birthday. I remember the one time we visited them on their birthday. They had to share one of those miniature personal cakes. I thought it was cute._

_Lastly, I feel you guys—especially the readers of my other two stories, Transgendered Past and New School—deserve to know that I will be taking a temporary break from both stories and will be mainly focusing on this one for a while. I apologize for how long I've been taking to update the two. I just happen to find this story much easier and much more fun to write._

_I hope you guys don't mind my decision to take a break from writing my other two stories, and hopefully you can still enjoy the updates from this story while you wait. ;)_


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